45 Facts About Bertelsmann

Bertelsmann is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gutersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Bertelsmann was founded as a publishing house by Carl Bertelsmann in 1835.

Bertelsmann is an unlisted and capital market-oriented company, which remains primarily controlled by the Mohn family.

Carl Bertelsmann was a representative of the "Minden-Ravensberger Erweckungsbewegung", a Protestant revival movement, whose writings he published.

In 1959, the C Bertelsmann Verlag was restructured: From that point on, theological literature was published in the Gutersloher Verlagshaus, a new publishing house which was consolidated with the Rufer Verlag.

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The C Bertelsmann Verlag focused on nonfiction books, in particular dictionaries, guidebooks, reference books and journals.

In 1964, Bertelsmann purchased the already broken-up UFA from the Deutsche Bank and built on its presence in cinema and television.

In 1969, Bertelsmann acquired shares in the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr.

Bertelsmann encountered new regulatory rules in its home market, in particular through laws governing mergers.

Under the leadership of Mark Wossner, Bertelsmann took a stake in RTL plus, the first private TV broadcaster in Germany.

In 1986, Bertelsmann acquired a majority in RCA Records and merged its activities in the music market with the new Bertelsmann Music Group.

In 1994, Gruner + Jahr acquired the magazines of The New York Times, whereby Bertelsmann was able to expand its presence in foreign markets.

In March 1998, Bertelsmann sold its video game publisher, BMG Interactive, to Take-Two Interactive in exchange for 16 percent of Take Two's stock.

In 1999, Bertelsmann acquired the publisher Springer Science+Business Media, which, among other things, was the market leader for mathematics and physics.

Bertelsmann initially owned a minority in the company, and gradually built up its share.

Later, Bertelsmann secured the majority of the shares in RTL through a share swap with the Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, which as a result owned 25.

Under the leadership of Thomas Middelhoff, Bertelsmann increased its involvement in the Internet, whereby above all the investment in Napster received major media attention.

Bertelsmann faced several claims for damages by the music industry.

Bertelsmann sold its shares of the record label Sony BMG, and since then the company has operated under the name of Sony Music Entertainment.

In 2008, Bertelsmann acquired the rights to the Brockhaus Encyclopedia, and from that time on, this reference work was published by the Wissen Media Verlag.

In 2012, Bertelsmann went from being an AG to its current incorporation as a partnership limited by shares, with the general partner being a European stock corporation .

In 2013, Bertelsmann floated part of its shares in the RTL Group on the stock exchange, in order to finance additional growth from the proceeds of the sale.

Furthermore, under the leadership of Thomas Rabe, Bertelsmann increasingly invested in the education sector: In 2014, for example, Relias Learning was acquired.

Bertelsmann belongs to the Bertelsmann Education Group, established in 2015.

The Club Bertelsmann was wound up, and individual distribution partners are taking legal action against it.

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In 2017, Bertelsmann undertook moves to further strengthen its core business, among other things increasing its share in Penguin Random House from 53 to 75 percent.

Bertelsmann weighed its strategic options for the Customer Relationship Management business, and in 2018 established a CRM company in cooperation with the Saham Group: The new company, Majorel, enjoys a leading market position in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Bertelsmann has promoted stronger cooperation among its corporate divisions and has opened up towards collaboration with other media houses.

In 2019, Bertelsmann boosted cooperation in the German content market by establishing the Content Alliance, headed up by Julia Jakel.

In December 2020, Bertelsmann entered talks to sell the French magazine publisher Prisma Media, a division of Gruner + Jahr, to Vivendi.

In January 2021, Bertelsmann began to explore selling its controlling stake in the French television channel M6.

In January 1997, Bertelsmann merged the UFA film and television company with Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Telediffusion .

Bertelsmann is listed on the stock exchange and has been majority-owned by Bertelsmann since 2001.

Bertelsmann was created in 2013 through the merger of the publishing businesses of Bertelsmann and Pearson.

At that time, the print and industry sectors at Bertelsmann were restructured, whereby services received a higher priority than the print and machinery sector back then.

Since the 1950s, Bertelsmann has been an active service provider, delivering books for other publishing companies, for example.

In January 2016, Bertelsmann bundled its printing activities in digital, offset and gravure in the Bertelsmann Printing Group.

Bertelsmann Printing Group includes not only GGP Media, Mohn Media, Prinovis, Sonopress, Vogel Druck and several other companies, but Be Printers.

Bertelsmann Investments holds equity positions in a total of over 100 startup companies, almost all from the digital economy.

From 1971 to 2012, Bertelsmann was a joint stock company under German law .

Today, Bertelsmann is a company active in capital markets, issuing bonds, for example.

In 2012, Bertelsmann created the additional so-called Group Management Committee, in order to advise the executive board in important matters.

In 1992, Bertelsmann purchased the Bertelsmann Building in New York City and located its North American headquarters there.

Bertelsmann has already been involved in China since 1992, and today all divisions are represented there.

In India, Bertelsmann is focused on growth in the e-commerce sector, among others.

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